The female-led action-adventure won the Friday (March 16) race with $9.1 million from 3,980 theaters for a $24 million weekend, but Disney and Marvel’s Black Pantheris expected to pull ahead on Saturday (March 17) for a weekend haul of $29 million from 3,834 theaters as it races past the $600 million mark domestically.

Black Panther will be the first film since Avatar eight years ago to top the chart for five consecutive weekends. The history-making tentpole will finish Sunday (March 18) with a domestic total of nearly $610 million, and is only days away from overtaking fellow Marvel film The Avengers ($623 million) to become the top-grossing superhero film of all time in North America, unadjusted for inflation.

It remains to be seen whether Tomb Raider, from Warner Bros. and MGM, can restart the film series about an adventurous archeologist and action hero that’s based on the video game. This time out, Lara Croft (Vikander) embarks on a dangerous journey to solve the mystery of her father’s disappearance. Norwegian filmmaker Roar Uthaug (The Wave) directed the $90 million film, which co-stars Dominic West, Walton Goggins, Daniel Wu and Kristin Scott Thomas.

The movie’s Friday gross included $2.1 million in Thursday night previews.